Back bay fishing fun!
May 13, 2023 Stone Harbor 1 photo
Bass (Striped)
Bass (Striped)
Bluefish
Bluefish
Spotted Seatrout
Spotted Seatrout

Trip Summary

Ran the Brynnie-B II around the back bays this morning with Justin and Amy onboard. The forecast wasn't great, but we figured we'd try to beat the rain and see what we could find. We had a nice assortment of baits; salted shad and mackeral, minnows, Zman's, and Gulp. We each dropped a rod down and waited to see what might come out to play. My first creek of choice had a wicked eddy toward the top end, and was quite a bit more shallow than expected. The wind was blowing across the creek which made the drifts a bit wonky. I finally ended up deploying the trolling motor to compensate. We made four drifts down the creek with everyone getting a hit here and there, but no hook ups. We moved out into the ICW and drifted in various depths from 6' to 26' or more. On our first drift I felt like we were in water that was much to deep for this time of the year. But then again, the water was reading 66 degrees. Suddenly Justin got hammered and he pulled in a spike weakie. It was a start. On the next three drifts it was the same, each ending with Justin catching a spike weakie. I adjusted the drift a bit, and Justin still got his little weakie, but he also nailed a nice 18.5" flounder. Next drift he got hammered by a 22" flounder. Both flounder came while drifting up a steep slope, from 20' of water to about 6'. We dialed the drift in, but only got another spike weakie and small blue. I moved the drift out into deeper water and worked over an area that is usually productive. Amy hauled in a nice 22" weakie and then a bigger blue. Justin got another snapper blues. Once the tide died out I deployed the trolling motor again. About that time some rain moved in and we decided to move. We made a short run to another area and tried a few drifts. I landed a dink flounder and missed another. Amy landed a 17.5" flounder right after. On subsequent drifts we got some half hearted hits, and both Justin and Amy got some epic snags. We called it a day after Justin's. It was a really fun morning. I had planned on hitting the surf too, but the weather pretty much shut that plan down. Not to mention there was an ASAC tournament today too. There have been some really solid reports of stripers and drum in the surf, so that is definitely on the hit list. And from the sound of it, the Delaware Bay drum fishing is beginning to light up. And then there are the pictures and reports of the bigger weakfish that have been missing for far too long popping up. I may need to bust out the Korkers... Tight Lines!
Frank Breakell
Stone-harbor, New Jersey, United States
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Whether you’re a novice or seasoned angler, Brynnie-B Inshore Fishing has a trip just right for you! Captain Frank Breakell offers something for every level of angler – every trip is fully customizable to suit your needs and desires. Everyone ...

Other reports from this charter

Back Bays, surf, it's getting better!
Back Bays, surf, it's getting better!
June 2, 2025
It's been quite the week. It started off with me and my two friends trying to get out for some flounder. We launched the boat, cranked her over, and realized there was no water coming from the engine indicating that it was pumping cooling water through itself. We trouble shot it at the ramp, but no luck. I tried trouble shooting it at home without any luck. I ended up going up to South Jersey Boatworks where Matt took time out of his busy day to swap out the pump. She's working great now. Memorial Day, Andy and I launched for our second attempt at chasing some flounder. Engine fired up and pumped water like a champ. We had some frozen spearing that we wanted to thaw out. Tossed it into the live well and hit the pump switch, dead. Tried the hose, also dead. Went to turn on my electronics and realized my house battery was dead. Great. So, we fished old school. Boat, motor, and gear. No electronics. We had about an hour and a half of incoming tide remaining and the ICW all to ourselves. We drifted along some ledges, got some hits, and missed quite a few. Finally, Andy broke the ice with a fat 20 inch flatty. Shortly after he landed a doggie and a skate. Then the tide slacked. Around this time a dozen boats moved in and joined in on our drift. The outgoing tide excited the bite from the shorties. We pulled in two 16-17" flounder each and missed a bunch more. Most of the boats in the area were catching and releasing short flounder. We saw two keepers taken. All of this during the first hour of the outgoing tide. We tried a few other areas and missed more fish. Called it a day about half way through the tide. Andy shared his flounder with me and Lisa turned it into a delicious dinner of flounder milanese. If you know, you know. If you don't, try it! You will not be disappointed. I took my battery back to West Marine where I purchased it. I explained how it was suddenly dead, wouldn't charge, or accept a charger being attached to it. Gave bad readings. They said their warranty for batteries is one year, mine was two. Out of curiosity they asked to keep the battery to test it out. Why not? They called the following day and said that it was in fact defective, and that they will be replacing it. They stand behind their products! Thank you Weat Marine. Hopefully, that's the last of the issues with the boat. Today, I had a surf fishing trip with a favorite family that comes back every year. Christopher and company met me on the very chilly, and windy, beach at 6am. I set out the rods in hopes of finding some stripers, kingfish, and maybe some blues. What we got were a bunch of little smooth doggies, croakers, a spot, and a little ling. Not the day I was hoping for. The wind, and chilly, dirty water conspired against us. On the plus side, they had a blast despite the conditions and lack of quality fish. Hopefully the wind takes a break for the remainder of the summer. Wishful thinking I'm sure. Finally, night time bridge hopping has been fairly productive. Some nights are better than others. But it's always fun! Looking forward to more adventures as the fishing season heats up. Tight Lines!
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